BP
plc (LSE:
BP),
NYSE: BP,
TYO:
5051
), originally British Petroleum, is a British energy company /
multinational oil company ("oil major") with headquarters in London.
The company is amongst the largest private sector energy
corporations in the world, and one of the six "supermajors"
(vertically integrated private sector oil exploration, natural gas, and petroleum
product marketing companies).

The
BP logo used from 1989 to 2001

Recent
developments

In
August 1998, British Petroleum merged with the Amoco Corporation
(Amoco), forming "BP Amoco." This move was widely viewed as a
takeover of Amoco by BP and considered officially described as a merger
for only legal reason (in 2001, "Amoco" was dropped from the
corporate name). The newly-renamed "bp" became an
initialism no longer overtly standing for "British Petroleum".
At the same time BP used the punning tagline "Beyond
Petroleum" in some advertising campaigns. The step away from
"British Petroleum" was in part a reflection of the fact that
BP had become a global business and also that the direct identification
of the company as British could be a disadvantage in some areas of
operation.

In
the 2006 Fortune
Global 500 list of companies, BP was ranked 4th in the world for
turnover with sales at $268 billion (down from 2nd in 2005 and 1st among
oil companies), in the 2006 Forbes
Global 2000 it was ranked the eighth largest company in the world.

BP
Solar became the third largest producer of solar
panels in the world through a series of acquisitions in the solar
power industry. Recently, BP announced that its solar, wind and hydrogen
power businesses would be known as BP Alternative Energy.

BP
is the leading partner in the controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline.

However,
BP was indicted by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation
Board for its role in the Texas City Refinery (BP) disaster in 2005, and
is being investigated by other US agencies for allegations of market
manipulation, and pollution from its pipeline at Prudhoe Bay.

Further
controversy occurred at a shareholder meeting on April 12, 2007, when a
lavish pension deal was approved for Lord Browne, the outgoing CEO.

Lord
Browne unexpectedly resigned suddenly on May 1, 2007 after admitting to
lying in court in a case concerning his affair with a male escort. His
official departure from the company was not due until later in the year.

Origins
and history

1909
- 1955

In
May 1901, William Knox D'Arcy was granted a concession by the Shah of
Iran to search for oil which he found in May 1908. This was the first
commercially significant find in the Middle
East. On 14 April 1909, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company was
incorporated to exploit this find. The company grew slowly until World
War I when its strategic importance led the British Government to
acquire controlling interest in the company and it became the Royal
Navy's chief source of fuel oil during World
War I.

In
1920, the war allowed it to take the British arm of the German Europäische
Union, which used the trade name British Petroleum. After the war
ended, the company, in which the British Government now had a 51%
interest, moved to secure outlets in Europe and elsewhere. However, its
main concern was still Persia, following the Anglo-Persian Agreement of
1919 the company continued to trade profitably in that country.

In
1931, partly in response to the difficult economic conditions of the
times, BP merged their marketing operations in the United
Kingdom with those of Shell-Mex Ltd to create Shell-Mex and BP Ltd a
company that continued to trade until the Shell
and BP brands separated again in 1975.

There
was growing dissent within Persia however at the imperialist and unfair
position that APOC occupied. In 1932, the Shah terminated the APOC
concession. The concession was resettled within a year, covering a
reduced area with an increase in the Persian government's share of
profits. Persia was renamed Iran
in 1936 and APOC became AIOC, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company.

Following
the turmoil of World
War II, AIOC and the Iranian government resisted nationalist
pressure to come to a renewed deal in 1949. In March 1951, the
pro-western Prime Minister Ali Razmara was assassinated and in April, a
bill was passed nationalising the oil industry and the AIOC and the Shah
were forced to leave the country.

The
AIOC took its case against the nationalisation to the International
Court of Justice at The Hague, but lost the case. However the government
of Britain, concerned about its interests in Iran, convinced the US that
Iran was slowly coming under Soviet influence. This was the perfect
strategy for the British since the US was in the middle of the Cold War.
The British convinced the US to join them in overthrowing the
democratically chosen Prime Minister, Mohammed Mossadeq, and to install
pro-Western General Fazlollah Zahedi as prime minister of Iran. This
overthrow was named Operation Ajax. Mohammed Mossadeq thought that
nationalization was the only way to prevent British exploitation of
Iran's oil wealth.

On
August 19, 1953, the incumbent democratic Prime Minister, Mohammed
Mossadeq, was forced from office and replaced by Zahedi and the Shah was
recalled. The AIOC became The British Petroleum Company in 1954, and
briefly resumed operations in Iran with a forty per cent share in a new
international consortium. BP continued to operate in Iran until the
Islamic Revolution. However, due to a large investment programme (funded
by the World Bank) outside Iran, the company survived the loss of its
Iranian interests at that time.

1960s
and 1970s

From
the late 1960s the company looked beyond the Middle East to the USA (Prudhoe
Bay, Alaska) and the North Sea. Both of these fields came on stream in
the mid-1970s transforming the company and allowing BP to weather the OPEC-induced
oil price shocks of 1973 and 1979. In 1969, BP acquired the Valdez oil
terminal, Alaska, from the Chugach for $1.
Some natives contend that this was an illegal transfer.

In
the mid-1970s, BP acquired Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio.

1980s
and 1990s

P.I.
Walters (later Sir Peter Walters) was BP's chairman from 1981 to 1990.
Walters promoted a movement to de-integrate company operations based
solely upon economic considerations: "For me, there is no strategy
that is divorced from profitability," he once remarked. Under his
chairmanship British Petroleum led the oil industry away from an era
dominated by vertical integration and the supply planning this required
toward a corporate culture that emphasised trading and decentralisation
(Daniel Yergin, The Prize [Simon & Schuster, 1991], pp.
722-23).

In
1987, British Petroleum negotiated the acquisition of Britoil and those
shares of Standard Oil of Ohio (Sohio) through CEO Charlie Spahr not
already owned. In 1994, BP and Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) began
marketing Orimulsion®, a bitumen-based fuel. Lord Browne of Madingley,
who had been on the board as managing director since 1991, was appointed
group chief executive in 1995.

In
the 90s most of Mobil's
UK stations were sold off to BP, with them becoming BP Service Stations.
The rest were turned into Essos which is the local name for Exxon
in the UK.

Chief
Scientist of BP, Steven Koonin (top right, with computer)

speaks
about the energy scene in the boardroom in 2005

Present

British
Petroleum merged with Amoco
(Formerly Standard Oil of Indiana), in December 1998, becoming BPAmoco
until 2000, when it was renamed BP and adopted the tagline "Beyond
Petroleum," which remains in use today. It states that BP was never
meant to be an abbreviation of its tagline. Most Amoco gas stations in
the United States have changed the look and name to the bp brand. In
many states, however, BP is selling Amoco branded gasoline, as it was
rated the #1 petroleum brand by consumers 16 years in a row (the name of
the service station itself is still BP) and Amoco has one of the highest
brand loyalty for gasoline in the US with only Chevron
and Shell
having such high rates as BP/Amoco. In 2000, British Petroleum acquired
Arco (Atlantic Richfield Co.) and Burmah Castrol plc.

In
April of 2004, BP decided to move most of its petrochemical businesses
into a separate entity called Innovene within the BP Group. Their
intention was to sell the new company possibly via an Initial Public
Offering (IPO) in the US, and in fact they filed their IPO plans for
Innovene with the New
York Stock Exchange on September 12, 2005. However, on October 7,
2005, BP announced that they had agreed to sell Innovene to INEOS, a
privately held UK chemical company for the sum of $9 billion, thereby
scrapping their plans for the IPO.

On
March 23, 2005, an explosion occurred at BP's Texas City Refinery in
Texas City, Texas. It is the third largest refinery in the United States
and one of the largest in the world, processing 433,000 barrels of crude
oil per day and accounting for 3% of that nation's gasoline supply. Over
100 were injured, and 15 were confirmed dead, including employees of the
Fluor Corporation as well as BP. BP has since accepted that its
employees contributed to the accident. Level indicators failed, leading
to overfilling of a heater, and light hydrocarbons spread throughout the
area. An unidentified ignition source set off the explosion. [1]

According
to some private BP-branded gasoline center operators in the Metro
Atlanta area, BP plans to leave the Southern Market in the next few
years. All corporate-owned BP stations, typically known as "BP
Connect" will be sold to local jobbers.

In
March of 2006, one of BP's pipelines in the North Slope of Alaska
ruptured, causing a major environmental hazard. [2]

BP
has recently started to move its oil exploration activities away from
the North Sea and Alaska and is looking into the former Soviet Union for
its future reserves. On July 19, 2006, BP announced that it would close
the last 12 out of 57 oil wells in Alaska, mostly in Prudhoe Bay, that
had been leaking. The wells were leaking insulating agent called Arctic
pack, consisting of crude
oil and diesel fuel, between the wells and ice.

On
12 January 2007, it was announced that Lord Browne would retire at the
end of July 2007. The new Chief Executive will be the current head of
exploration and production, Tony Hayward. It had been expected that Lord
Browne would retire in February 2008 when he reached the age of 60, the
standard retirement age at BP. Browne resigned abruptly from BP on 1 May
2007, following the lifting of a legal injunction preventing Associated
Newspapers from publishing details about his private life. Hayward
succeeded Browne with immediate effect.

As
of February 11, 2007 BP announced that they would spend 8 billion
dollars over ten years to research other methods of fuel.

Prudhoe
Bay shutdown

As
of August 7, 2006, BP has begun to shutdown oil operations in Prudhoe
Bay, Alaska, due to corrosion in the pipeline. This corrosion is caused
by sediment collecting in the bottom of the pipe, protecting corrosive
bacteria from chemicals sent throught the pipeline to fight this
bacteria. Prudhoe Bay produces about 2.6% of the United States demand
for gasoline. It was initially estimated that the shutdown would cause a
reduction of 400,000 barrels per day and reaction to that scenario was a
contributing factor pushing the price of oil to over $77(USD) per
barrel.To, date 1,513 barrels of liquids, about 5,200 cubic yards of
soiled snow and 328 cubic yards of soiled gravel have been recovered.
There are estimates that about 5,000 barrels of oil were released from
the pipeline. After further analysis and approval from the DOT, only the
eastern portion of the field was shut down which resulted in a reduction
of 200,000 barrels per day until work began to bring the eastern field
to full production on Oct 2.

Solar
panel made by BP Solar

In
2000 the company was renamed BP, with no meaning given to the letters.
Its new slogan, "Beyond Petroleum", was accompanied by the
rebranding of its famous "Green Shield" logo in favour of the
helios symbol (a green and yellow sunburst) to emphasise the company's
focus on environmentally friendly fuels and alternative
energy. This is intended to move BP away from the negative
environmental image of most oil companies. However, some environmental
groups have accused BP of trying to greenwash their public image, and
that their alternative energy credentials are not serious investments
but merely a PR exercise.

BP
is a leading producer of solar
panels since its purchase of Lucas Energy Systems in 1980 and
Solarex (as part of its acquisition of Amoco) in 2000. BP Solar had a
20% world market share in photovoltaic panels in 2004 when it had a
capacity to produce 90 MW/year of panels. It has over 30 years
experience operating in over 160 countries with manufacturing facilities
in the U.S.,
Spain, India
and Australia
and has more than 2000 employees worldwide.

BP/Amoco
was a member of the Global Climate Coalition an industry organisation
established to promote global warming skepticism but withdrew in 1997,
saying "the time to consider the policy dimensions of climate
change is not when the link between greenhouse gases and climate change
is conclusively proven, but when the possibility cannot be discounted
and is taken seriously by the society of which we are part. We in BP
have reached that point.".

In
February 2002 BP's chief executive, Lord Browne of Madingley, renounced
the practice of corporate campaign contributions, noting: "That's
why we've decided, as a global policy, that from now on we will make no
political contributions from corporate funds anywhere in the
world." [3]

In
March 2002 Lord Browne of Madingley declared in a speech that global
warming was real and that urgent action was needed, saying that
"Companies composed of highly skilled and trained people can't live
in denial of mounting evidence gathered by hundreds of the most
reputable scientists in the world.".[4]
In 2005 BP was considering testing carbon sequestration in one of its
North Sea oil fields, by pumping carbon dioxide into them (and thereby
also increasing yields).[5]

In
2004, BP began marketing low-sulphur diesel
fuel for industrial use. BP intends to create a network of hydrogen
fuelling stations in the state of California.

Disaster

One
of BPs largest refineries in the USA exploded in 2005 causing 15 deaths.
The fall-out from the accident continues to cloud BPs corporate image
because of the mis-management at the plant. There have been several
investigations of the disaster, the most recent being that from the U.S.
Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. It was preceded by the
Baker report and BPs own internal investigation.

Essentially,
a large column filled with gasoline overflowed to form a vapour cloud,
which ignited. The explosion caused all the casualties and substantial
damage to the rest of the plant. The incident came as the culmination of
a series of less serious accidents at the refinery, and the engineering
problems were not addressed by the management. Maintenance and safety at
the plant had been cut as a cost-saving measure, the responsibility
ultimately resting with executives in London. The disaster led to the
premature resignation of Lord Browne, and will continue to affect the
company for some time to come.

However,
Lord Browne resigned before his due date in August 2007, essentially
because he had lied in a court action concerning his private life. He
resigned on May 1st 2007 when the facts were revealed to the public.

BP
petrol station using the 1989-2001 logo

West
Papua

BP
has come under heavy criticism from human rights groups, especially the
Free West Papua campaign for developing a massive natural gas project in
the region. This project will fund the Indonesian occupation of West
Papua and has not been agreed by the West Papuan people. Furthermore BP
have gone into business with the Indonesian regime without criticising
the occupation (which has killed more than 100 000 people). Comparisons
have been drawn between BP's presence in West Papua, Shell's presence in
Nigeria and Total's presence in Burma. A leaflet published by the Free
West Papua campaign used the letters "BP" as initials for
"bleeding papua".

Other
Problems

However,
BP's image has been tarnished somewhat by its involvement with the
controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, criticised for human
rights abuses, environmental and safety concerns.

BP
has also been criticised for the increase in fuel prices in the UK, on
April 25 2005 Lord Browne stated in an interview with the BBC that he
fully expected petrol prices to stay above £1 per litre. [6]
BP has also been involved in bringing lawsuits against biofuel and
biodiesel producers and sellers in France and other countries.

In
July 2006, a group of Colombian
farmers won a multimillion pound settlement from BP after the British
oil and gas company was accused of benefiting from a regime of terror
carried out by Colombian government paramilitaries to protect a 450-mile
pipeline.[7]

On
August 7, 2006, BP reported that their Prudhoe Bay oil field had to be
shut down after a pipeline inspection gauge determined there was
excessive corrosion in the transport pipeline. BP was criticized for the
maintenance practices on the damaged pipeline, which was last inspected
for corrosion in 1992.

BP
have started a scheme for car owners to purchase carbon
offsets called Target Neutral.

As
of February 11, 2007 BP announced that they would spend 8 billion
dollars over ten years to research alternative methods of fuel. A $500
million grant offered to the University of California, Berkeley,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories, and the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign, to create an "Energy Biosciences
Institute" has recently come under attack, over concerns about the
global impacts of the research and privatization of public universities.

BP
Retail Brands

BP
Connect

This
is BP's flagship retail brand name with BP Connect Service stations
being operated around the UK, Europe, USA, Australia, New Zealand and
other parts of the world. BP Connect sites feature the Wild Bean Cafe
which offers cafe style coffee made by the staff and a selection of hot
food as well as freshly baked muffins and sandwiches. The food offered
in Wild Bean Cafe varies from each site. BP Connect sites usually offer
table and chair seating and often an Internet kiosk.

BP
Express

This
was the flagship BP brand prior to the introduction of BP Connect in
2000. There are still some BP Express sites operating around the world
but most have been either upgraded to Connect or changed to an
alternative brand. BP Express offers a bakery service but doesn't have
the selection of food offered in the Wild Bean Cafe and usually coffee
is only available through a self service machine.

BP
Shop

Commonly
used on smaller sites mainly independently owned sites. Products vary in
each BP Shop but usually a selection of convience store style food and
automotive products.

BP
2go

A
franchise brand used for independently operated sites in New Zealand. BP
2go sites mainly operate in towns and outer suburbs in New Zealand. BP
2go offers similar bakery food to BP Connect but in a pre-packaged form.
Some BP Express sites around New Zealand that were considered too small
to be upgraded to BP Connect were given the option to change to BP 2go
others were downgraded to BP Shop. Staff at BP 2go sites wear a
different style of uniform to the rest of the BP branded sites.

To
quote BP: "If you spend time in camper vans or
RV's solar can provide the clean power solution. The
watertight, low or no maintenance solar panels can power
your camper van, RV or boat, charge your car battery so
extending its life, power your computer, radio or
TV. If you're getting away from it all, solar lets
you get away from the noise, hassle and pollution of
diesel generators, crowded marinas and busy campsites.
By charging long-life battery sets, you can rest assured
you'll have energy for use through the day and
night".

Solar
Navigator extends this ethos to use silent clean
renewable energy to propel a large ocean going catamaran
- and provide energy for navigation, entertainment and
life support. It is only with research such as our
expedition generates, may the frontiers of technology be
extended for the benefit on mankind.

Edmund
John Philip Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley,
FRS FREng (born February
20, 1948) is President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was group
Chief Executive of BP until his resignation on May 1, 2007.

Browne
was born in Hamburg, Germany,
to a British Army
officer and a Hungarian Auschwitz survivor. His father also worked in
civilian life for Anglo-Persian Oil, which later became British
Petroleum. He was educated at the King's School, Ely and St John's
College, Cambridge, where he earned a First Class Bachelor's degree in
Physics; he later obtained an MS from Stanford Business School. In May
2003, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the
Colorado School of Mines.

Lord
Browne

Career

At
the suggestion of his father, Browne joined BP as an apprentice in 1966
while still at university and remained with the corporation throughout
his career. In 1969 Browne worked as a BP field engineer in Anchorage, Alaska.
He was appointed group chief executive in 1995.

It
was announced on 25 July 2006 that Browne would stand down as chief
executive of BP in December 2008, 10 months after his 60th birthday.
There had been press speculation that he had wished to continue beyond
this date, but he made it clear that he did not wish to do so. On 12
January 2007, it was announced that his retirement date has been brought
forward to July 2007 and that he would be succeeded by Tony Hayward.

Lord
Browne resigned from BP on 1 May 2007, following the lifting of a legal
injunction preventing Associated Newspapers from publishing details
about his private life. In a statement, he confirmed that he had lied to
a court in an attempt to cover up his four-year homosexual relationship
with a male escort called Jeff Chevalier, leading to Browne's
resignation.

Green
issues promoted by Browne

From
1997, Browne challenged oil industry rejection of global
warming and sought to recreate BP as a "green"
energy company. The company linked itself in its corporate
communications with green issues by the overt link of its BP initials
with the phrase "Beyond Petroleum". Though many dispute that
an oil company can truly be environmentally sensitive, Browne has stated
that the right to heat, light and mobility are crucial for people
everywhere and that he sees his company's mission as to find ways to
meet current needs without excessive harm to the environment, while
developing future, more sustainable sources of energy. He has promised
that BP will cut its emission of greenhouse
gases by 10% by 2010.

Life
outside BP

Lord
Browne lists fine cigars, antique furniture, opera and the arts among
his interests. He was one of the highest paid executives in the UK with
a remuneration package of approximately £5.7 million in 2004. He became
President of the Royal Academy of Engineering in July 2006. He took over
from Frances Cairncross as President of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science in September 2006, and was elected a Fellow of
the Royal Society in 2006. In 1998, he was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth II and in 2001 named as one of the "people's
peers" taking the title Baron Browne of Madingley in the County of
Cambridgeshire, and becoming a crossbencher (independent member) in the
House of Lords.

He
is a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs, a trustee of the British
Museum, a member of the Governing Body of the London Business School and
a member of the Supervisory Board of DaimlerChrysler
AG. He is also emeritus chairman of the Advisory Board of the Stanford
Graduate School of Business and
the Judge Business School, Cambridge as well as a trustee of The
Conference Board, Inc. and a vice president and member of the board of
the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. In late 2006 he was
appointed Chairman of the private equity firm Apax Partners.

Resignation

Lord
Browne resigned from BP on 1 May 2007. After a court case lasting over
four weeks, Browne appealed to the Judicial Committee of the House
of Lords, who ruled that he could not prevent a newspaper from
printing allegations about his personal life and alleged misuse of
company funds.

Sources
say he paid his Canadian
boyfriend Jeff Chevalier throughout their four-year relationship, and
when Chevalier moved back to Toronto
at the end of the relationship, Browne paid for 12 months of a lease on
an apartment.

Lord
Browne says felt he was under pressure to resign due to UK newspaper Mail
on Sunday revelations about his personal life and relationship
with Chevalier. As part of a statement made at the time of his
resignation, he commented "In my 41 years with BP, I have kept my
private life separate from my business life. I have always regarded my
sexuality as a personal matter, to be kept private. It is a matter of
deep disappointment that a newspaper group has now decided that
allegations about my personal life should be made public."

It
is not yet clear how his resignation from BP will affect his future
plans. BP were also due to give him a large leaving payout of over £5m
and £21m pension
on his scheduled departure in summer 2007, which may be affected by his
resignation.

It
is also possible that Browne will face charges of perjury, over lying to
the court over how he met Chevalier. Browne in court initially said the
pair had met when they were both exercising in Battersea Park, which was
dismissed by the court and Browne later admitted was a lie. Newspapers
reports suggest that Browne actually met Chevalier via a gay dating
website.

However,
Mr Justice Eady, the presiding judge in the case, has said he has
decided not to refer the matter to the attorney general with regard to
possible perjury charges, saying disclosure in the judgment of Lord
Browne's behaviour was "probably sufficient punishment".

BP's
Browne quits over lie to court about private life

Cover-up over how he met partner leads to dramatic exit and costs him £15m

The
career of one of the titans of British industry came to a dramatic end
yesterday when Lord Browne quit as chief executive of BP after lying to
a court about his relationship with another man.

Following
crisis talks at the company's London headquarters, BP said Lord Browne
had resigned with immediate effect after losing his four-month battle to
suppress newspaper reports about the relationship. In doing so, he
forfeited a leaving package worth up to £15.5m.

Lord
Browne went all the way to the House of Lords in his attempts to prevent
Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, from
disclosing details of his relationship with Jeff Chevalier, his Canadian
partner between 2002 and 2006.

A
series of hearings considered evidence about the pair's extravagant
international lifestyle, disputed allegations that company resources
were diverted for Mr Chevalier's use, and claims - firmly denied - that
Lord Browne attempted to evade tax payments.

The
58-year-old, once hailed as "the Sun King of the oil industry"
lost his case, in large part, because he claimed to have met his partner
while jogging in a London park. They had, his close associates conceded
last night, made contact through a male escort agency's website.

In
a statement which marked the end of a remarkable career, including a
decade during which the company he led was regarded as the country's
most successful, Lord Browne said: "In my 41 years with BP I have
kept my private life separate from my business life. I have always
regarded my sexuality as a personal matter, to be kept private. It is a
matter of deep disappointment that a newspaper group has now decided
that allegations about my personal life should be made public.

"I
wish to acknowledge that I did have a four-year relationship with Jeff
Chevalier, who has now chosen to tell his story to Associated
Newspapers. These allegations are full of misleading and erroneous
claims. In particular, I deny categorically any allegations of improper
conduct relating to BP."

Tony
Hayward, Lord Browne's designated successor, who had been due to take
over in July, was immediately appointed as chief executive.

The
disclosure of the relationship follows the refusal by the House of Lords
yesterday to grant Lord Browne permission to appeal against rulings made
earlier this year by the high court and court of appeal.

The
high court had decided to lift an injunction which covered a wide range
of subjects, including alleged discussions between Lord Browne and
Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and EU commissioner Peter Mandelson, and a
dinner at one of Lord Browne's homes attended by himself and Mr
Chevalier with Mr Mandelson and his Brazilian partner.

Another
was a claim that Lord Browne bought a flat in Venice several years ago
and, it was alleged, paid cash for a renovation bill which did not
include VAT, and that he failed to pay his tax bill.

The
court also heard that Lord Browne took steps to enable Mr Chevalier to
remain in the UK when his visa was due to run out early in the
relationship. This included paying for a university course from 2003, so
he would acquire student status, and helping him to set up a company to
trade in mobile phone ring tones.

Mr
Chevalier claimed that when the relationship broke down Lord Browne had
agreed that "if needed, [he] would assist in the first year of me
transitioning from living in multimillion pound homes around the world,
flying in private jets, five-star hotels, £2,000 suits, and so on to a
less than modest life in Canada".

The
judge, Mr Justice Eady, said Mr Chevalier sought further assistance
towards the end of last year, backed by what he said could be
interpreted as a "thinly-veiled threat". Mr Chevalier denies
making any threats.

Eventually,
Lord Browne's attempts to prevent reporting of these matters, and to
maintain his personal privacy, collapsed after the court accepted he had
lied to conceal the manner in which he met Mr Chevalier. Lord Browne had
told the court on more than one occasion that they had met while running
in Battersea Park, south London. In fact, associates of Lord Browne now
acknowledge, they met through a website called suitedandbooted.com.

Mr
Justice Eady said: "I am not prepared to make allowances for a
'white lie' told to the court in circumstances such as these -
especially by a man who prays in aid of his reputation and distinction,
and refers to the various honours he has received under the present
government, when asking the court to prefer his account of what took
place."

The
judge added that Lord Browne told this lie at a time when he was also
making a "wholesale attack" on Mr Chevalier's reliability,
showing a "willingness casually to 'trash' the reputation" of
his former partner.

The
Mail on Sunday said it would make its evidence available to the attorney
general, Lord Goldsmith. "Jeffrey Archer and Jonathan Aitken went
to prison for lying to the courts," a spokesman said.

However,
Mr Justice Eady said he had decided not to refer the matter to the
attorney general, saying disclosure in the judgment of Lord Browne's
behaviour was "probably sufficient punishment".

In
a statement last night the Mail on Sunday said: "The story we
originally sought to publish was a business story involving issues of
great importance to shareholders and employers of BP. Lord Browne chose
to suppress this story by arguing to the high court that, because the
story was supplied to us by his former lover, Mr Chevalier, it breached
his right to a private life under the Human Rights Act." In lying,
the newspaper said, it was Lord Browne who had made his private life a
public issue.